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After Friday’s disappointing home opener, which was soured further by revelations that the club’s corporate owner had tightened its purse strings to the point that players were essentially passing the hat to sign a free agent this offseason, there was a lot to like about the Blue Jays on Saturday.

R.A. Dickey rebounded from his dismal opening-day performance to throw 6 2/3 shutout innings against the New York Yankees, out-dueling Michael Pineda.

Melky Cabrera, whose rejuvenation after last year’s injury-riddled campaign continues to be remarkable, hit his second homer in as many games, while Jose Bautista added his third of the season. Colby Rasmus and Ryan Goins both snapped their early-season hitless streaks, and Rasmus, whose misaligned throws from the outfield were a constant source of frustration a year ago, had his second assist in the last week, cutting down Francisco Cervelli in a close play at the plate to preserve a one-run lead.

All in all, it was a well-rounded 4-0 victory for the Jays, who despite being just six games into the season are already speaking with a greater sense of urgency than they did a year ago.

“This was a big game for us,” said manager John Gibbons. “We needed to bounce back.”

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Last season, the Jays lost 20 of their first 30 games en route to a last-place letdown. During spring training this year, they spoke of the importance of a good start. Through six games — against a pair of division rivals in Tampa and the Yankees — the Jays have faced six of the better starting pitchers in the AL and have mostly held their own. Saturday marked their second shutout of the season, which last year didn’t come until their 53rd game.

“We’re trying to rebound from what happened last year,” Gibbons said. “We buried ourselves so early last year and in this division there’s no coming back when you disappear early. We’re trying to get off to a good little start and a win tomorrow would go a long way towards that.”

Drew Hutchison will make his second start of the season against veteran southpaw C.C. Sabathia in Sunday’s rubber match.

On Saturday, it was Dickey who set the tone for the Jays. After an erratic opening day, when he tied his career high with six walks, Dickey’s knuckleball was much sharper against the Yankees and nearly unhittable in the game’s early going.

A big key was his increased velocity. Though he doesn’t blow his pitch by hitters, it’s most effective when he can throw it in the 78 to 81 mph range. That hard knuckleball is not only his equivalent of a strikeout pitch, it’s also why he’s able to command it better than other knuckleballers do, and it gives him another weapon with which to keep hitters off-balance.

In one sequence to Kelly Johnson on Saturday, for example, Dickey threw a 79 mph pitch for a swinging strike and then froze Johnson with a 66 mph floater.

In his first start of the season, Dickey threw eight knuckleballs at 78 mph and never touched 79 mph On Saturday, he threw 45 knuckleballs 78 mph or faster and touched 80 mph on several occasions.

The game could have gone much differently if not for Rasmus and Thole combining in the third inning to protect a 1-0 lead with a great throw and tag at the plate.

Rasmus said he hasn’t changed anything about how he throws, but he is focusing on not trying so hard.

“Like, not making it life or death that I got to throw the guy out,” he said. “That may sound kind of weird, but in the past I’ve wanted so bad to throw people out … and I was just gripping the ball too hard or whatever. This year I’ve been really trying to tell myself to not try as hard and just take it a little easier and let my arm strength do the work.

“But there’s no magic potion. It just moved where it was supposed to go. Baseball’s crazy like that.”

The play was reviewed at the umpire’s discretion to determine whether Thole had blocked the plate. Under baseball’s new plate collisions rule, catchers are supposed to give runners a lane and can’t block the plate without the ball. After a 108-second delay, the original call was upheld, and replays showed Thole straddling the plate, rather than blocking it.

But Thole said he didn’t play it any differently than he would have a year ago, before the rule was in place.

“I don’t even understand the rule, to be honest,” he said. “The ball kind of took me up the line. I just went for the ball. I wasn’t even really aware that I even gave him the lane to slide; I was just going to catch the ball.”

“That’s tough to overturn that,” Gibbons, a former catcher himself, said after the game. “I don’t care what the replay shows. If he’s called safe when he’s clearly out, then you’re screwing with the game of baseball. I think they’re smart enough up in those offices reviewing those things.”

It’s still early, of course, and the Jays have lost just as many games as they’ve won. But by this time last season they were already two games behind and had allowed nine more runs, so there’s reason to be encouraged.

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